Video: I Built A Lightsaber At 'Galaxy's Edge' And It Was A Religious Experience

galaxy's edge lightsaber building experience

By Peter ScirettaJune 5, 2019 2:01 pm EST

I built a lightsaber in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and my life has been forever changed because of it. Forget Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run, this is the coolest attraction in Batuu's Black Spire Outpost. If you're going to Disneyland, you won't want to miss this. Hit the jump to watch a video of my adventure.

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When it was announced that Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge would be offering an experience where guests could construct their own sabers, I wasn't particularly excited. For many years now, Star Trader, the gift shop at the exit of Star Tours in Tomorrowland, has offered a build your own lightsaber merchandise experience. For whatever reason, it has never interested me. Maybe it's the plastic pieces and I didn't feel like I needed to own another toy lightsaber, or maybe it was because it felt like something for kids to do.

The experience offered in Savi's Workshop in Black Spire Outpost on Batuu was being pitched as a more inspired version of what Universal Studios has been doing with Olivanders at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As the castmember previews of the land heated up, I started to hear reports about how amazing the attraction was.

But you can't even partake in the experience unless you first purchase "the scraps" available inside Savi's, and that isn't the price of a cheap toy but $200 plus tax (no annual pass or castmember discounts allowed). So I was hesitant – is it really worth $200 to buy a lightsaber that has no ties to any of the films or tv shows? Inside Dok Ondar's Den of Antiquities, you can purchase Legacy Lightsabers starting at $109, nearly half the price. On the opening day of Galaxy's Edge, the majority of my friends wanted to head straight to Savi's Workshop and build a lightsaber, which was enough to convince me to join in. I had been waffling, and if I didn't like the end product I could probably always sell it on eBay later.

I am so thankful I did the build a lightsaber experience. It might be my most favorite part of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge honestly. It can best be described as an almost religious experience for Star Wars fans. From the moment you show up at Savi's and the gathers show you the different pieces available for your construction. You are able to choose from parts of one of four themes:

Peace and Justice: Salvaged scraps from fallen Jedi temples and crashed starships in these Republic-era designs honor the galaxy's former guardians.

Power and Control: Originally forged by dark side warriors, this style features rumored remnants from the Sith homeworld and abandoned temples.

Elemental Nature: This theme embodies the Force—an energy created by all living things, like Brylark trees, Cartusion whale bones and Rancor teeth.

Protection and Defense: Hilt materials bear mysterious motifs and inscriptions that reconnect users with the ancient wellspring of the Force. Basically these are pieces from the old republic style sabers of old.

Inside Savi's Workshop, it is lit with candles and a very intimate enviorment where The Gatherers help you select the heart of your lightsaber—the kyber crystal, which is available in red, blue, green or violet (gold and white are also available for purchase in Dok-Ondar's). Next, begin assembling your hilt—parts will be provided based on your theme. Each box of parts includes: 1 hilt, 4 sleeves (pick 2), 2 emitters (pick 1), 2 pommel caps (pick 1), and 2 sets of activation plates and switches (pick 1 set). So by my math, any one set can produce 128 possible combinations, and that means 512 unquie lightsabers can be produced from the experience. Not one of my friends lightsabers looked at all similar to the others, and we had I think 6 people doing the experience.

Upon hilt completion, sadly the unused parts will be collected by the Gatherers and returned to Savi's inventory. My only wish is that they would open a scrap yard where you could buy or trade out additional pieces of "scrap" for your saber. Think of it as high end pin trading. The lightsabers themselves are made with metal and are very heavy duty. These are no toys, they feel like the real master replica collectibles I grew up drooling over as a kid.

Savi's would be amazing for a kid but is even more powerful as an adult fan. You feel strangely at one with the force and the small group of heroes (and villains) who participated in the experience with you. Watch the video above of my experience and exploration of kyber crystals and holocrons to see the whole thing in full. As it turns out, your kyber crystal is spiritually connected to a Jedi or Sith who has come before us. You can find out which hero (or villain) is connected to the crystal by putting the kyber inside a Holocron (sold at Dok Ondar's). I think I saw Lucasfilm story group member Matt Martin describe it as the best real world "Which Star Wars character are you" personality test, and thats a fun thought. My green kyber crystal is connected to Qui-Gon Jinn, which is pretty cool.

It was an amazing experience which I will treasure for the rest of my life, and the lightsaber I created will sit on my shelf forever reminding me of this special day.